BELLY BUMP!!!!

The bump is here!  My cousin Katie got married this weekend and I was a matron of honor.  The bump was in full form in my bridesmaid's dress!

Here is a picture of the bump! 

The awkward part is that I'm too big at this point for my regular clothes but maternity clothes aren't quite cutting it yet... I just look like a little person (never thought I'd say those words) in a BIG person's clothes.

And now for something I'm going to try to do regularly now that I'm in my second trimester (Thanks Diana for the idea)!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 13 weeks

Size of Baby: 3 inches approx. (I read somewhere that the baby is the size of a chocolate-covered Nutter Butter this week) hahahaha

Total Weight Gain: -9 pounds (haha... I lost 11 pounds in the first few weeks after I found out I was pregnant --> morning sickness) and I've gained 2 back

Maternity Clothes: Like I said above.. still not in Maternity clothes but eagerly accepting Keith's clothes donations of basketball shorts and large t-shirts - wife beaters are my best friend right now (the shirts, not the people...)

Movement: I'm pretty sure that I felt the baby move Saturday morning when I woke up.  I felt slight tapping inside of me.. but lower than gas bubbles would be

Sleep: I'm sleeping okay but rolling over on my stomach is hurting more lately mainly because of my bruised up stomach (from my shots)

Symptoms: Morning sickness is almost ALL GONE!!! I'm dizzy a lot and my baby brain (forgetfulness) is worse than ever! haha

What I Miss: I pretty much gave up drinking about 3 months before we started trying to get pregnant, but I have DEFINITELY been wanting some Carib (Caribbean beer aka cough syrup that no one likes but me)

Cravings: No real cravings lately except for greasy junk food - particularly McDs breakfast sandwiches and McNuggets

Best Moment of the Week: waking up with the bump!

That's all for now!

First Specialist Appointment

So I'm post-dating this entry, since it's taken me so long to write it, but I'm going to pretend that I wrote it the day of the appointment :)

HOLY COW!!!! What a day!!!!!

First off let me mention that our specialist is the ONLY maternal fetal medicine specialist in the DC Metro area.... and she's located in Rockville. So... that meant Keith and I took a nice long 3 hour trip up to Rockville in the middle of morning rush hour traffic. Our appointment was at 10:00. We left our house at 7:00 am and arrived in Rockville at 9:45, with enough time to grab some greasy McD's breakfast and book it into the doctor's office waiting room. I was hoping to feel more like I belong there this time (when I was there last time every single woman in the waiting room looked like she was about 12 months pregnant and then there was me... not even pregnant... just thinking about getting there). Today wasn't much of a difference. I'm still not showing so here I was -- in my same jeans and sweater that I've been wearing pre-pregnancy, surrounded by about 7 huge stretchy-shirt and legging-wearing women that look miserable, out of breath and about to kill their doting husbands.

I signed in at the front desk and the woman that took my insurance card and co-pay stood up and looked to be about 8 months pregnant and waddled to the copy machine. They finally called us back at about 10:20, and we went into the genetic counselor's office (who was also hugely pregnant). I couldn't help thinking at this point, "I WANT TO BE HUGELY PREGNANT!"... I think I'll regret putting that in writing in about 3-4 months..

The genetic counselor part was actually pretty cool -- she drew us a little diagram and we felt like we were in biology class again. She discussed the chances for certain conditions to be passed down to our kid and talked to us about the available genetic testing (some of which I'm going to have to partake in whether I like it or not - due to all of MY issues).

Then... the fun part. She told us that she was going to take us back to have a sonogram (YAY!) and I said "Well let me pee first" and she said, "Oh no honey... we need you to have a full bladder..." --- well its a damn good thing I chugged a 20 oz. thing of OJ 10 minutes ago because nobody told me this before!

Now don't get me wrong... I love my OB. He is great. But let me tell you - going to a specialist is a totally different experience -- they put us in a fun little dark room with some sonogram equipment that makes Dr. Aron's little sonogram machine look like a stone age obstetrical play thing.

I was able to lay comfortably on the bed-chair-table-thing and see what the technician and Keith were seeing -  but above me...
The sonogram technician coated my belly with warm jelly and put the doppler to my stomach.  Instantly, I saw the most beautiful sight I've ever seen... not a jellybean... not a shrimp... a BABY!!!!!! and also this huge black mass laying on top of him/her.  The technician said to me "WOAH - you're not going to like me very much - you have a VERY VERY full bladder".... no shit.  The giant black mass was my VERY full bladder... but despite the warm jelly and pushing on my bladder... I didn't even notice the pressure to pee myself.  I was too fixed on the screen.

To sum up what we saw.. the technician said "You have an active one on your hands".  For the first ten minutes of the sonogram we watched the baby kickbox my bladder.  Kicking, punching and rolling around and around....  The baby wouldn't sit still long enough for the technician to get the measurements that she needed to take.  She had me go empty my bladder to see if it took the pressure off the baby.  Sure enough my 'bipolar' baby (for lack of better words) went from non-stop action to super-chill mode.  The baby actually put its arms behind its head and crossed its legs like it was laying in a hammock.  THEN the technician was yelling because the baby wouldn't move or change position to get more measurements.

Meanwhile the technician and Keith were non-stop talking about our active/relaxed baby and I lay mesmerized on the table watching my unborn child enjoy swimming around!

She was able to capture some great stills for us to take home:

*The baby with legs crossed at the end and hand up waving almost!

 *Waving and sticking legs straight up in the air

*Pulling his/her legs up to his/her chest

This has been our favorite appointment by far, but of course the further along we get the more exciting things get!

More to come in the near future!

Welcome to our blog!

Well I figured since most of you are aware of the blog by now, I would go ahead and do a quick update!
Here's how this works - I've been doing this blog since I thought I was pregnant, and now that we're far enough in, we decided to go ahead and share it!  We figured that this is the best way to keep most of you up-to-date on what's going on with Baby Henley!
Make sure when you read for the first time, to start at the beginning (in February) -- the oldest blog entries are at the bottom of the page - or if your browser isn't showing them, they're in the blog archives (which are on the right side).

Since my last entry, not much has changed.  The "morning" sickness or what I've grown to call "baby sickness" has subsided... a little.  It's definitely worse at night, and mostly after my shot.  My sensitivity to smell has heightened and is definitely not a help to the nausea.  So far, the worst smells are paint, fish and worst of all... beer.  So needless to say, I WON'T be celebrating St. Patrick's Day this evening (bummer......... *sarcasm*).
In addition to nausea, exhaustion is probably my other biggest complaint right now.  I cannot seem to catch up on sleep and naps are my best friend.  I cannot wait for this phase to be over and be a happy-go-lucky pregnant woman, like people are telling me I will be soon... I guess it might have helped if I was happy-go-lucky before pregnancy.. haha
The pregnant bladder has pretty much taken over my life.. and most unfortunately, it has taken over my SLEEP.  I wake up 3 and 4 times to pee each night and its driving me insane.  But my theory is -- this is the baby preparing for the numerous times that I'll be waking up with him/her in about 6 months!

On Monday, we have our first appointment with Dr. Hammersly (my maternal fetal medicine specialist) - I have to go to her pretty regularly in addition to my obstetrician, because of my blood-clotting issue.  I'm hoping she does another sonogram so that I can see another shot of my baby :)  Maybe this time it will look more like a baby rather than a lima bean!
I'm super-excited even though it's in Rockville and we have to leave our house 3 hours before the appointment time to make sure that we get there (taking into account morning rush hour).  Luckily, I'll have my awesome, amazing husband by my side to keep me company.


I will update after the appointment next week!
 

The First Appointment

Friday was our first OB appointment!  Thursday night, I didn't sleep very much - felt like it was Christmas Eve and I couldn't wait to "unwrap" my present!
We got to the doctor's office about fifteen minutes early in anticipation and waited impatiently in the waiting area... looking through the photo albums of all of the baby's that my doctor has delivered.
When we finally got called back, they took us into a "fun room" (that's what I called it -- one of the ones with the sonogram equipment for the new mommies).  The nurse did all of the good fun stuff - blood pressure, weight, etc and then took about 3 gallons of blood from me.
I had read a lot about what to expect at the 9 week appointment, knowing that the goal was to hear the heartbeat of the baby, but also that if the baby was hard to find with the sonogram, that might not be possible.  Needless to say, I was nervous.
When the doctor finally came in, he wasted no time.  And... within seconds - we saw our beautiful little.... gummybear on the screen with a fast-paced heartbeat.  The doctor was even surprised to see movement. 
After a little more discussion about my past irregular cycles and the current size of the baby, the doctor decided to change my due date (which was previously Oct. 5th) to Oct. 10th.
So... I'm technically only about 8 weeks pregnant now.
The doctor said that he felt confident that with such a strong heartbeat and movement this early, our chance of miscarriage is less than 5% now.

So we've decided to go ahead and tell the world!

WORLD - WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!

Seeing the heartbeat was an experience that can't be explained.  It definitely helped to make everything more REAL!  I thought I'd cry when I saw it, but I held it together.  However, seconds after the sonogram, the doctor left us alone for a few minutes and I lost it.

I think things will feel even more real when I start showing and when I feel something inside of me - or maybe when we actually see a baby-shaped BABY on a sonogram :)

**8 weeks pregnant**

That's all for now... but before I forget I have to credit my friend from college (Diana) who has been keeping a baby blog - which I plan to steal and have stolen ideas from (I hope she doesn't mind), because she has done a great job with it :)

"Morning" Sickness

Well... so much for no morning sickness... 
That is definitely not the case anymore.  Starting about a week ago, I started feeling pretty nauseous... but whoever coined the phrase "morning sickness" was out of their damn mind.  I actually have been feeling great first thing in the morning - its the rest of the day that sucks.
I constantly feel like I'm going to be sick.  It's awful.


On a happy note, we have our first appointment with Dr. Aron (my OB) on Friday 2/25.  I've taken off that day and Keith is going to go with me.  We're so excited we can barely wait!  I'm hoping we'll have a chance to get our first sonogram and hear Baby Henley's heartbeat :)


I will update after Friday's appointment!

Shots Shots Shots

Shots for all!  Actually... just me. (and not the fun kind of shots)...

Picture this... I am someone who has had IVs so many times I can't even list them.  I've had blood taken so often that I don't even remember most of the times.  EVERY SINGLE one of those times, I'm the patient who annoys the doctor or the phlebotomist (I had to look up how to spell that), telling them that I have collapsing veins and that I'm terrified of needles.  Every time, they give me the same annoyed eye-roll and say "You'll be fine.. make a fist... don't watch".... like they have to tell me.
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TERRIFIED OF NEEDLES!!!!!

But now, here we are....
On Tuesday, I went to the doctor to be taught how to give myself injections.  I was a nervous wreck, and Keith couldn't go with me... so Mom graciously volunteered to go for moral support.  Surprising to us all (the nurse included), it didn't go that badly!  The nurse could tell I was freakin out so she gave me a "practice belly", which was like a little gel mouse pad lookin thing, to try sticking a few times.  After one time, I was ready to get it over with.  The nurse told me she couldn't believe how brave I was... neither could my mom... neither could I.
It was time to put the practice-belly aside, and actually do it.  So I prepped my poor little belly and did it.... no hesitation.  I didn't feel the needle at all going in.  The medicine however burned like hell.
That night, I was ready to do it again... (I have to give myself shots every 12 hours)... but it didn't go as well as I had hoped.
I think without the audience... or more like the PRESSURE, I was much more reluctant.  But eventually, I did it.  Again, I didn't feel the needle but the medicine was awful as I pushed down on the little plunger thing.
The next morning (Wed morning), I got up when the alarm went off, gave myself my shot and went on with my day... no problem.  Wed night was another story.  I blame it on the stressful day I had at work coupled with my recent surge of uncontrollable hormones.  I was hysterical come shot time.... right around 7:15 (which I have deemed "nightly shot time"), my anxiety was out-of-control.  Even with Keith's mild-tempered words, I wasn't able to compose myself.  It took me 30 minutes to give myself my shot.  Keith had to implement "tough love" and had to talk me through it and count down until I actually did it.
Since then, I've been okay.  I realize that I don't have a choice in this matter.  There is no sense in continuing to stress over giving myself shots (which when I began to do this, was like breaking my own arm).  I'm now 7 shots in and I feel much more comfortable with what is going to be a daily routine for the next 8 months plus.  The worst part has been the pain that lasts about 10 minutes after I give myself the shot of the pain dispersing... that shit burns!  Also, my poor stomach looks like there has been a purple Sharpie explosion... I have lots of little bruises... but who cares - I'm the only one lookin at my belly (for now) anyway...
I've done a lot of research on the risks of the shots and more importantly, the PURPOSE of them.  They are coagulants which thin my blood further, to prevent blood clots, since I'm at high risk for them... and furthermore helping to prevent miscarriage.

I have to focus on why I'm doing this.  When I picture what is growing inside of me and think of how important this is, not only for the health of my growing baby, but for me... I don't even think twice about something that just a week ago made me pass out just at the thought.

Month 1

**The 7 pregnancy tests I've taken since that first night - all positive - I insisted that I keep taking them just because I liked watching the 2nd line pop up**

I'd like to say a lot has happened this month... but the truth is not a lot has happened, but I've learned a lot.  For starters, by the time I found out I was pregnant, I was already 5 weeks pregnant!.. which makes this week 6.
I've scheduled my first appointments (with my ob and with my maternal fetal medicine specialist).
I've also had to schedule an appointment to be taught how to give myself Lovenox injections (my new blood thinner).  This thrills me about as much as banging my head off the coffee table thrills me.  I am scared to death of needles... so much that the past two times I've gotten blood drawn, I've come close to passing out in fear.... not pain... fear.  I guess this will be a good way to overcome my fear of needles, since I'll be giving myself shots in my belly twice a day for the next 8 months.
I've had a few pregnancy symptoms (some that I won't discuss online... ha) - but the worst one has been daily/nightly gas pains... that bring me to my knees.  I've read that gas pains of this sort are normal during early pregnancy, yet I've never met anyone that has experienced this.
However, I have to say that I'm very thankful that I haven't had any "morning sickness" yet.  Knock on wood, I'm hoping I'm one of the few lucky pregnant women that WON'T experience this :)
We simply cannot wait until Feb. 25th (the day of our first ob appointment), where we're hoping to get our first sonogram and news that everything is headed in the right direction!!  Then, I'm hoping to spread our exciting news.  It's driving me crazy to hold it in! I want to tell the world that I'm going to be a mommy!  I'll feel better about telling more people when we have heard the heartbeat!
Until then, I am not going to make this blog public... so those of you that read this after Feb. 25th have a lot of catching up to do!! =)